Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/108

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PREHISTORIC BRITAIN

limited culture associations, these wild hunters developed a genuine taste for art, and cultivated its principles so effectually that they have bequeathed to us an art gallery of some four or five hundred specimens of engravings, sculptures, and even paintings in colour, many of them being so true to their models that they bear a favourable comparison with analogous works of the present day.

CHAPTER V

THE TRANSITION FROM PALÆOLITHIC TO NEOLITHIC CIVILIZATION—THE HIATUS PROBLEM AND LAND SUBMERGENCE

In the last chapter we had a passing glimpse of the Palæolithic races of Western Europe—their physical attributes, social industries and artistic attainments—as disclosed by their tools, weapons, ornaments and works of art. In moving down the stream of time, still keeping as far as possible within the same geographical area, we find the land inhabited by other races whose social organizations and general methods of living appear to have been totally different from those of the former. Here we pause for a little, in order to take a preliminary glance at the characteristic features and landmarks of their civilization. The stage in European history we are thus called upon to inspect is known by the name